By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Closure upsets some students, will last until April 2002
The sidewalk between the Systems and Industrial Engineering building and the gate blocking off the scaffold covering phase one of the Memorial Student Union construction will be closed beginning Friday until April 2002.
With the walkway closed, pedestrians will either have to walk around the entire Memorial Student Union or around the engineering building, which has some students upset.
"Yeah, that sucks," said Nawaf Al-Ardhi, mechanical engineering sophomore, who uses the walkway several times a day.
Melissa Dryden, public information coordinator at University of Arizona Facilities Design and Construction, said she regrets that another area must be closed off but added that it is not heavily traveled.
"Students will be able to use the sidewalk on the west side of the engineering building. Because of construction progress on the student union, the number of students using the sidewalk was probably reduced," Dryden said.
However, some students said the loss of that path will be a hardship on members of the UA community.
"Not only is it the most efficient way, but blocking it off would make it extremely difficult to get to and from classes on time," said Mark Kaufman, retail and consumer studies senior
At first, the walkway will be blocked off because water, sewer and electrical lines need to be installed, and then, it will serve as a construction pathway, said Dave Seese, operations manager for Swinerton & Walberg.
While some members of the UA community will have to alter their paths to class or work, Sayeef Rahman, an electrical and computer engineering sophomore, said it won't have that great of an effect on a lot of students.
"I don't think it will be a big inconvenience because I don't use it a lot," Rahman said.
